


Somewhere I Have Never Travelled

by adelaide_rain



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Case Fic, Christmas, First Kiss, M/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:12:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9004462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelaide_rain/pseuds/adelaide_rain
Summary: "You have to kiss when you're standing under mistletoe," Grace says. "It's the rules."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Vague spoilers for episodes 6.25 and 7.08.

It's become a tradition for Lou to host a party the week before Christmas, and it's a tradition Danny can get behind.

It's not just the fact that it's at someone else's house and therefore the tidying up is someone else's problem; Lou's house is a welcome respite from all the mele kalikimaka stuff. Even now, when Danny's accepted Hawai'i as his home, he just can't do the tropical Christmas thing. His heart aches for snow, for cold, for the Williams family hockey game on a frozen lake with Matty and their sisters, and if that makes his heart ache for other reasons, they're ones he's not willing to spend long thinking about.

Lou's house has other aspects of a Williams family Christmas though - the noise, the smiles, way too much food and drink. There's even bad crooning courtesy of the host and Danny laughs, shaking his head as Lou mangles _All I Want for Christmas Is You_.

Steve, standing by Danny's side, nudges him.

"You should get up there," he says, pointing at Lou pouring his soul into the microphone and failing to get within five miles of the high notes. "Since you can actually sing."

"I'll pass, thanks; maybe after five more beers but since neither of us are drinking anywhere near that much..." He pokes Steve in the arm, making him roll his eyes.

"Two drink maximum, I know," he says, patting his stomach where the transplant scar is. "Scout's honour."

"Were you ever even a scout? I feel like you'd be doing some Navy thing even when you were a kid."

"Are you talking about the Sea Cadets?"

"I don't know, am I?"

"Honestly, Danny-"

"Danno!" Both of them look at where Grace is standing with Will. They're holding hands and just seeing them like that makes panic ping in Danny's belly. He likes Will and knows he's good for Grace but that doesn't change the fact that his baby girl is growing up way, _way_ too fast. She points above their heads and they look up to see-

Mistletoe.

Huh.

Danny looks back at Grace who is grinning widely at him.

"You have to kiss when you're standing under mistletoe," she says. "It's the rules."

"I'm pretty sure it's the law, actually," Kono says from a few feet away, grinning even wider than Grace. "And I should know, I'm a cop."

"You're the worst is what you are," Danny sighs, and looks up at Steve. Steve is still looking up at the mistletoe with an expression Danny can't quite read. It's somewhere between thoughtful and a death glare; it's scary how close those things are with him.

"It's definitely tradition," Chin puts in and Abby, her arm linked with his, nods.

"Why do I get the idea that you're about to start chanting our names or something," Danny grumbles, and Steve finally looks down at him with a soft smile that makes Danny feel warm and happy, something else he's never been willing to spend too long examining.

"Well, Danno?"

"Well what, you schmuck? _You're_ the giraffe, if we're gonna do it you need to get down here."

Steve grins but is gracious enough not to comment on Danny's height. He does lean down, though, pausing a few inches away to give Danny chance to back up or meet him, his choice. Danny pauses, heart hammering. Back when they first met he thought about this way too often, wanted it way too much. Over the years, what with their girlfriends and everything else that's happened, it's been pushed to the back of his mind, but now-

 _Stop overthinking shit,_ he tells himself; they're just goofing off. So he leans in, their lips touch-

And it's not goofing off at all.

It's not just a smack of lips and a hearty laugh afterwards. It's sweet and soft with Steve's hand on his cheek, holding him close. It's lingering a few seconds afterwards, each feeling the other's breath on his lips while the others cheer around them.

Then Steve does pull back, but he slides an arm around Danny's waist.

"Never let it be said that we don't respect tradition, right, Danny?"

"Why do I feel like I've been roped into reciprocating by taking part in the - the Hawai'ian Christmas pineapple hunt or something?" Danny's glad of his ability to rant about anything and everything on autopilot because he's thinking _shit shit shit_ , he's thinking about how he wants to do that again and again, about how it was just a bit of fun to Steve, about how much trouble Danny is in.

"You don't hunt pineapples, Danno," Steve says, shaking his head, but he doesn't move his arm from Danny's waist, either.

Lou launches into an embarrassingly bad version of _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_ and Danny has to move. Staying this close to Steve is going to make him explode, so Danny takes the opportunity to snatch the mic from Lou and berate him for butchering Frank like that.

"And you can do any better, Jersey?" Lou asks, grabbing a beer and looking at him with a challenge in his eyes.

"You're damn right I can," and yeah, Danny can sing but he's not a fan of doing so in public. Still, it means he's away from Steve for awhile so he dives right on in, and if the way Steve smiles at him makes his heart flutter, that's something he's gotten very good at ignoring.

Grace leads the applause when he's done, and runs up to give him a hug.

"Way to represent, Dad," she says, and he laughs, kissing her temple.

"Yeah, not bad, Williams," Lou says, then glances over as Steve's phone starts to ring. His expression as he sees the caller ID makes it clear that they're about to be wrapping up the party pretty soon, and Lou sighs, putting his half-empty beer bottle down. Steve goes outside to take the call, and the rest of them wait for the inevitable.

"You and Uncle Steve looked cute under the mistletoe," Grace says with a grin, and Danny looks at her. She's waving her phone at him and Danny blanches to see a photo of them kissing, filtered to within an inch of its life.

"Please tell me you didn't put that on Instagram."

"Ew, Danno, no. As if."

Danny's pretty sure he should be insulted, but Steve is back and looking serious so it's time to roll. The less time to think about the mistletoe incident the better, so Danny kisses Grace's cheek and gets a promise from Lou's wife that she'll get her back to Rachel's safely, and then they're moving.

It's a shootout at a bar downtown, Steve tells them all as they head out to the cars. Three people hit and in hospital, the perp on the run.

"Fantastic," Danny mutters as they get in the Camaro. "Because nothing says _Christmas_ like shooting up a bar."

After grabbing guns and badges, they head out to the scene. On the way they get a call from Eric, who's already there. He gives them the 411 about the bullets and the video from the bar's security system and also from a multitude of camera phones.

"The shooter is, uh - it's a Navy guy," Eric says. Danny can hear the nervousness in his voice; everyone knows that Steve takes anything involving the Navy personally. "He was in uniform and facial rec IDed him as Petty Officer Jonny Riggs. Duke's tried to get in contact with someone at Pearl but I don't know what's going on with that."

"I'll find out," Steve says, hanging up on Eric and calling one of his naval contacts. They're reticent - what's new - but they admit that they were aware that Riggs had been having some problems with stress, with his family, but they never thought anything like this would happen. They also say that Riggs has a wife and a son at home, and that makes Steve do a u-turn and put his foot down.

Riggs lives out in Pearl City; on the drive over Steve tells Chin, Kono and Lou to investigate the scene; he and Danny are heading out to the suspect's home to ensure that his family's safe.

They arrive just in time to hear gunshots and see a woman running from the house with a baby in her arms, weeping and wide-eyed.

"Get behind the car," Steve yells at her, which she does, making herself as small as she can and curling protectively around the baby. Steve grabs himself a tac vest from the trunk and throws one at Danny, who's trying to get some information from the wife.

"Can you tell me where he is?"

"He came in the back door," she says. "He - he had a gun! He said it was all my fault - I - I don't even know what he was talking about, but - I just grabbed Ty and ran-"

"That's good, you did good," Danny says. "Are there any more weapons in the house?"

"A - an automatic rifle, and a shotgun. Ammo. Hunting knives." She sniffles and holds the baby closer. "Please don't let him hurt us."

"Just stay down," Danny says, and looks over at Steve. He's examining the dark house with a frown. "We should call for back up- _Wait,_ hey," he says, grabbing Steve's arm when he starts towards the house. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah, we should call for backup, but we can't wait, Danny. That kind of firepower - the man's unstable, he could go after the neighbours-"

"Yeah, yeah," Danny says, and swears softly. He convinces Steve to at least wait long enough for him to call backup, but as soon as it's been promised that someone's on the way, they move.

They go around the back, sticking to the shadows; they can see where the door has been kicked in, the frame splintered and glass shattered. He and Steve share a glance and move, Danny opening the door and Steve going in first, gun up. Danny follows, listening carefully since it's so dark, the only illumination from outside and the lights mounted on their guns. The kitchen is empty though Danny notices a few knives missing from the block - he hopes they're in the dishwasher, the guy doesn't need any more weapons. Following Steve's direction he goes left while Steve goes right; Danny finds a pantry and a small office, then meets Steve in the living room. There's a Christmas tree, still lit, the baubles and tinsel glinting in the beams of their weaponlights. It's kind of creepy.

"He must be upstairs," Steve says, twitching the curtains aside. "Better viewpoint - he could start picking people off. Civilians, the cops when they arrive-"

"Then we better stop him, huh?"

Steve nods, and heads for the staircase; Danny covers him. From the size of downstairs there has to be at least two rooms up here and a bathroom or two, but if Steve's right and the bastard is planning to shoot people on the street then he'll take the front bedroom. A glance at Steve, and Danny knows he's got the same idea.

Steve indicates for Danny to open the door and Steve will take point - of course, Danny thinks with a pang of annoyance, but this isn't the time to argue. He grabs the door handle, glances at Steve, and when he gets a nod, pulls it open-

And everything goes to hell.

Automatic gunfire from the darkness, and both Steve and Danny dive away.

Riggs is screaming about something but Danny doesn't know or care what. Steve gets off a shot but that only gets Riggs's attention, and Steve grunts, clutching his leg when the next burst of shots clips his thigh.

Fear and anger surge in Danny and he rolls into a crouch, getting a few shots centre mass, but before Riggs drops, the rifle butt swings towards Danny-

Noise.

And then darkness.

===

Incessant beeping and an astringent smell tell Danny he's in hospital before he even opens his eyes.

He thinks he's half-woken before. There are vague memories of the beeping, of faces - strangers; Steve and the rest of Five-0; Grace and Charlie - but nothing that is particularly clear. He remembers the dark house, remembers gunshots.

With a little difficulty, he opens his eyes to see Steve sitting by his bedside. He looks like shit, like he's not slept in days, but he's got a grim look of determination that Danny knows too well. He's staring at the heart monitor, though, and has yet to notice Danny is awake. Which gives time for a few more of Danny's brain cells to come online and realise that Steve is holding his hand. It's a nice realisation, a nice hand; strong and stupidly big, engulfing Danny's own. It makes Danny feel protected which, yeah, hello, he's in hospital because of this asshole and his inability to wait for backup. But he was right about Riggs, wasn't he? From upstairs he might even have been able to get a bead on his wife and baby, even though they were in cover. As long as they got Riggs before he could hurt anyone else, it's worth it.

"Are-" Danny starts, but his mouth is Sahara-dry.

Steve's gaze snaps to him, worryingly intense, before he breaks into a relieved smile. "Danno, thank god," he says, and grabs a glass of water, helps Danny drink a little.

"Are they okay?" Danny manages, though it hurts to talk and he sounds like sandpaper. "The wife and baby?"

"Yeah, Danny. They're fine. The victims from the bar, too - they're going to be fine. You-" He pauses, swallows and looks away, down at their hands. "You were the worst hurt."

"Typical," Danny mutters, and closes his eyes. The side of his head is throbbing - not hurting, but the kind of weird, intense numbness that means there's probably a shitload of pain just waiting on the other side of the painkillers. His shoulder, too, feels heavy and numb; when he looks down he sees it's bandaged beneath his hospital gown. He tries to move but Steve puts a hand on his stomach to hold him still.

"Don't move. Wait here while I go get your doctor, okay?"

Danny sighs - as if he has a choice - and spends an interminably long time being examined and prodded by a white-coated woman while Steve lurks in the doorway with a scowl and folded arms.

"You should sit, Commander McGarrett," the doctor says. "You shouldn't put weight on your leg-"

"I'm fine."

"He's always fine, you know," Danny says, peering at Steve's legs. He got clipped in the thigh, Danny remembers, but of course the bandages are under his cargoes. "He had a liver transplant six months ago and he was a-okay then, too."

Steve glares at him, but the doctor battles a smile.

"Yes, I heard about that," she says. "I've only been here a month but I've heard lots of stories about Five-0."

"I'll bet," Danny sighs. "So what about this story? What's the prognosis?"

"You're lucky," the doctor says, and it's funny but Danny never _feels_ lucky when he's in a hospital bed. "The bullet grazed your skull - even a quarter of an inch to the right, and you probably wouldn't have woken up. The bullet to your shoulder was a through and through - you'll need physical therapy but you should get most of the movement back."

"Great. So when can I leave? No offence doc, but I'm not a fan of hospitals. Especially at Christmas."

"I want to keep you in tonight, maybe tomorrow night. That was still a pretty nasty head wound and I want to keep an eye on it. But you should be home in plenty of time."

"Thanks, doc," Danny says. Once she's gone, Steve takes his place by Danny's bedside. "You know, I was half expecting her to say I'd been in a coma for months or something and missed the whole thing-"

"Don't," Steve says sharply. "Don't even _think_ that. I don't - you're fine."

Danny looks up at him; there's guilt in his eyes, and if he feels bad enough for it to break through his stoic expression he must really feel like shit. "Don't blame yourself, Steve. That's my job."

"If I'd waited for backup-"

"The wife would probably have been shot. Maybe the baby too. And anyone who happened to walk past the house, the cops who showed up - us, picked off from above. The guy was a psycho. Don't blame yourself for what he did."

Steve is quiet for a long moment, and then he takes Danny's hand again, watching for his reaction. Danny smiles and squeezes his hand, rubbing a thumb over the back of it. Steve breaks into a beautiful smile and Danny's ribcage suddenly feels way too small for his heart.

"So," Danny starts, and clears his throat. "Grace took a picture of us under the mistletoe."

"Yeah, she sent it to me," Steve says, and Danny is intrigued to see his cheeks turn pink. "I, um, asked her to."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's a nice picture. She's been here most of the day, by the way. Charlie too. They went home about an hour or so ago with Rachel. I should let them know you've woken up-"

"In a minute, Steve. Let's go back to you asking my daughter for a picture of us kissing."

Steve's eyes widen slightly. "Was that - inappropriate?"

"Maybe. But more to the point-" Danny pauses to take a breath, but ploughs on before nerves and fear can make their appearance. "The kissing. You and me. What's going on there?"

Steve looks away with the deeply uncomfortable expression he gets whenever someone asks him to talk about his feelings. Danny's expecting to be fobbed off or even ignored, but Steve says, quietly, "I was going to ask you to come round to mine once you'd dropped Grace off at Rachel's. I had a plan-"

"Of course you did."

"-where you were gonna drive up, and I was going to be waiting for you on the lanai. I was going to put mistletoe at the top of the steps and point at it, and if you wanted - if you wanted to, you'd meet me there underneath it and we'd kiss again."

Danny stares at him, then grins. "Holy shit, Steve. I take back everything I've ever said about you not being romantic."

Steve gives a sheepish smile, looking away. "The next part of the plan was to take you upstairs and blow you. Is that romantic too?"

"That is _extremely_ romantic, babe," Danny says, and they grin at each other. "And I approve of the plan. Maybe when I get out of here?"

"I was planning on taking you back to mine anyway, so I can look after you. I've already cleared it with Grace and Charlie - they're more than happy to have Christmas at my place."

"I bet they are, Christmas on the beach, huh?" Danny says, and pulls his hand from Steve's so that he can poke him in the shoulder. "But we need to have words about you commandeering my life, McGarrett."

Steve snorts. "As if that's anything new."

"Oh, so he admits it! Finally!"

Laughing loudly, Steve looks down at him fondly. "I've wanted to kiss you for a long time, Danny."

Which is news, and something they probably need to talk about at some point, but for now, "Then how about you get down here and we do some catching up, huh?"

"You're hurt, Danny."

"So be gentle. You can do gentle, can't you?"

"On occasion," Steve says with a grin that feels like a promise. But he does lean in and kiss him, soft and sweet, and that feels like a promise, too. He kisses him again, and again, until they're both breathless.

"We're doing that _so much_ when they release me," Danny says, and Steve nods eagerly.

"We are."

"Look - how about you go tell Grace and Charlie I'm okay so they can visit before their bedtime? And after, you and me, maybe we can do a bit of talking, huh?"

"Or kissing?" Steve says, and he looks so damn hopeful that Danny has to pull him down for another kiss right now.

 _"And_ kissing. You're not getting out of the talking, don't think you can distract me. Now go."

Danny watches him limp from the room and smiles, feeling an unexpected hope bloom in his chest. He's wanted Steve forever but never thought he could have him. But now-

Well.

It looks like it'll be a very merry Christmas, for both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> This came entirely from the idea of Grace pointing out that Steve and Danny were standing under mistletoe, and that they should kiss. Everything else came out as I was writing, so it was a fun journey. Although to be honest, writing Steve and Danny is always a fun journey, I love these two boys :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and happy holidays! 
> 
> [Tumblr.](http://raininginadelaide.tumblr.com/)


End file.
